A Trick of Fate
by peppaminty
Summary: Kagome is distraught by what she finds in her History textbook, but can she change fate?
1. Chapter 1

-A/N- Hallo! I know I have other stories to write, but the idea for this one wouldn't leave me alone... So here it is!

-Disclaimer- Me not ownin' teh inu. Me see problem here. Me sad.

-*-

Kagome stared at her toes, trying to come up with a response to the question that had just been asked of her.

She had been attending History class, just like a good little student. She had walked into the class, found her seat, set her belongings down, and waited for the bell that signaled the beginning of class patiently, just like a good little student. She had opened her textbook to the right page at the teacher's command, just like a good little student. She had read the story in the book quietly, just like a good little student.

Then her expression had changed to that of abject horror.

She had started wailing, screaming and crying in the middle of class, just like a bad little student. She had received prolonged attention and many odd stares from her classmates, just like a bad little student. She refused to stop when the teacher requested she calm down, just like a bad little student. She had been called down to the office, just like a bad little student.

And so she stood outside the heavy wooden doors, awaiting her fate. Just like a bad little student.

Her eyes were red, her nose was running, and the silence was only punctuated by the occasional sniffles that drifted from her direction.

"Come in, come in," Boomed a loud, friendly voice, belonging to the school principal.

So she walked cautiously past the large doors and the secretary pointed her in the right direction, after handing her a tissue. She continued on, still sniffling occasionally. Eventually, she walked through the door to the principal's office, and he asked that she sit down. She obliged, staring at her hands in her lap, but still feeling the principal's gaze.

"I hear you had an outburst in History, Higurashi."

She only nodded.

"I hear you were crying."

She nodded a second time.

"You must have been very upset."

Again, a nod.

"What exactly was so upsetting?"

This time, only a sniffle. And a dab from the already soaked tissue.

"I see. Would you prefer to speak to a counselor?"

Another nod.

"Alright, Fukawa-sensei's office is in that direction."

She nodded with a sort of finality, got up, and walked in the direction the principal pointed, still holding the damp tissue. She walked through this smaller door, and immediately felt out of place in the cheery room, brightly colored flowers on the desk and pictures of who must have been children and relatives littering the walls with their smiling faces. A small, plump woman peeked out from behind the vase of the aforementioned flowers, and gave the teen a greeting.

"You don't look very happy, dear..." The woman, probably in her mid-forties, regarded her kindly.

A nod. Accompanied by a sniffle.

"Let's see..." She said, picking up a stack of papers and donning a small pair of glasses. "The report says your name is Higurashi Kagome, correct?" She looked up and Kagome nodded.

"You were crying in class?"

A nod.

"And screaming?"

A more sheepish nod.

"Why?"

A sniffle.

"What was so upsetting?"

A shuffle of feet and another sniffle.

And this is how she found herself, Cowering with a runny nose in a small but cheery room, before a middle-aged woman named Fukawa, with a kind smile and a few gray hairs.

"I-I was..." Kagome's voice sounded small and afraid. "I..."

She still couldn't find a response and she sighed.

"Why don't you sit down?"

A scraping of chair legs against the ground and she sat. And dabbed her face with the ever-present soggy tissue.

"Now," She began, "Let's start at the beginning."

Kagome gave a shuddering sigh of resignation.

"You were in class. Which class?"

"History." She meekly replied.

"I see. What were you doing in History?"

"Reading."

"Ah. What were you reading?"

"A story in the textbook."

"And what was this story about?"

Kagome looked away, tears pooling in her eyes.

"I'd rather not say..."

"Well, If you can come back tomorrow, maybe you'd feel more comfortable discussing it then?"

"Maybe..."

"Alright, sometime tomorrow I'll call you over the intercom, and we can talk more about it. Just have another moment to calm down, and here, have a new tissue..."

She passes a pink and orange tie-dye patterned tissue box towards Kagome, and she gladly took one, discarding the no longer ever-present soggy tissue. Then she stood, gave a polite bow, and pushed the chair in.

"Bye, Fukawa-sensei."

"Please, just call me Hana." The older woman smiled warmly.

"Alright, Hana-sensei... Thank you."

With that, she turned on her heel and walked out of the office.

But then she wished she had stayed and dreaded going back to class. Luckily, the bell rang and she was spared having to return to stares and giggles and whispers. She hurried on to her next class.

-*-

She walked in the front door, briefly stopping to remove her shoes in the genkan.

"Tadaima!" She greeted.

But instead of the warm reply she had expected, she was met with her mother standing in the kitchen doorway, hands on her hips, a frown on her face.

"The school called today."

"Ohh..." She groaned, rolling her eyes.

"You had a fit over something in the textbook?" She asked, incredulous. "What could be that bad?"

"Mom, you wouldn't understand..."

"Well, make me understand!"

She hesitated momentarily.

"It was about Inuyasha... Mom, can you believe it? Inuyasha's in the textbook!"

"And just how did this make you cry?"

Kagome paused, her eyes brimmed over with tears, and she tumbled sobbing, up the stairs to her room. Sota popped his head around the living room door to watch his sister leave a soggy trail behind and slam the door.

"Wow... Are all girls this weird, Grandpa?"

"Well, when girls get closer to Kagome's age, they can be very emotional, so it's best just not to upset them..." But all Sota heard was "Well, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah..."

"Okay, Gramps, I got it." He sighed, sitting back down in front of the TV.

-*-

When Kagome had calmed down enough to stop crying, she sniffled a few times and pulled her History textbook out of her bag, and onto her bed. She opened it to the story she had read earlier, and began rereading it, forcing herself not to burst into tears another time. She just sniffled and was soon engrossed in the story.

_There is a legend, from the sixteenth century, that states there was a brave inu-hanyou who, with the help of his five companions, a miko, a monk, a taijiya, the taijiya's nekomata, and a kitsune-youkai child, he defeated an evil kumo-hanyou who was the fear of all in the land. He was known as the savior of all Nippon, and was mated to the miko who traveled with him almost exactly a year later. The monk and the taijiya were wed a few months after this, and the kitsune grew up and moved out into the world, still making frequent visits to the miko and hanyou, because they had been like second parents to him after his own were killed._

_However, this was a short-lived happiness, for in the year 1507, the savior of all the nation made a simple mistake, and his house was set aflame by an unattended cooking fire, and he, without his customary robes that could have protected him against the fire, was burned alive while his house fell around him and his mate was out visiting friends. The house had been positioned away from others in the village, as to promote solitude, and this is why nobody else spotted the flames until too late. It was an awful end, and his friends grieved for him constantly._

Despite her hard efforts, Kagome was again in tears by the end, and she cried herself to sleep this way, her head still on the page she had been reading.

Later, her mother came up to turn out the lights when she had seen they were still on, but was sidetracked by the book under her daughter's head. She pulled it away as gently as she could, and read it as well, wondering what could have distraught Kagome so. She finished with tears in her eyes as well, and quietly turned out the lights, leaving the teen to sleep.

_I'm so sorry, Kagome..._

-*-

-A/N- Well, how did you like it? PLEASE review, tell me what you think. I live off your reviews, feed me!

~Xie xie, Joy


	2. Chapter 2

-A/N- I hope you like the story so far, here's the next chapter!

-*-

Kagome moved through her classes as if she was in the middle of a black haze, and this is exactly how she felt. She waited patiently to be called to Fukawa-sensei's office, seeing nothing better to do. When the voice finally did come over the intercom, though, it was met with giggles from some students, and she got up to leave the room.

A girl she never really got along very well with whispered to her as she passed, "Need to have another counseling session, Higurashi? What, are you emotionally unstable? Or is it something with your mental health?"

She just giggled more when Kagome blushed harder and walked faster out of the room.

The empty hallways seemed to stretch out before her, and her footsteps echoed across the high ceiling, loud and cold. She never thought she'd get to the office, and walked back to the counselor's office with ease. She slipped in the small door and closed it behind her, sitting down in the chair again. The older woman peered around the flowers to see her again, smile wide.

"Well, Kagome, are you ready to tell me about the story yet?"

She moved to get the textbook out of her bag and opened it.

"I think you should read it yourself, Fukawa-sensei." She handed the counselor the book and was corrected.

"Remember, just call me Hana!"

"Oh, sorry."

Hana took the book and read the story quietly.

"Why, this is a sad story, but I don't see why you should burst into tears over it."

Kagome looked away for a moment, but then she stared straight into Hana's eyes.

"Can you keep a secret?"

Hana nodded.

"Well, to tell you the truth..." She took a deep breath. "I'mthemikointhestory!!"

Hana took a moment to digest this information before wondering out loud,

"This is an interesting predicament indeed."

"See, you probably don't believe me!"

"Well, it is a little hard to believe. This took place about 500 years in the past, and you don't look more than 16 or 17."

"Yes, but... Just come to my house tomorrow, and I'll explain everything." She said, scribbling down an address on a piece of paper.

She stood up and put the book back into her bag.

"I'll see you tomorrow then, Hana-sensei."

She waved a goodbye and walked solemnly back to class, ignoring the jeers and taunts as she slid into her seat.

The rest of the day went by fairly uneventfully, but she could hardly fall asleep that night because of her excitement. She woke the next morning and dressed slowly, preparing for the day, even though it was a weekend. At around two o' clock, Hana came by and greeted Kagome with her usual warm smile.

"Follow me," She said, leading her back to the well-house. "I'll give you proof I'm the miko in the story."

She had Hana stand near the door and look inside.

"Wait right here and don't move." She commanded, moving towards the well. She put her knee up on the lip and Hana almost cried out in surprise.

"Kagome, what are you--" She was silenced by the blue light that filled the small shrine after Kagome jumped. It dissipated, and she ran to the edge of the well, peering down inside.

However, she could see nothing, and this fact perplexed her.

_'Where did Kagome go?_'

She stayed there for maybe five minutes, and moved back out into the sunlight, waiting another five before she heard voices inside the shrine.

"...Quit it, Inuyasha, I still have a few tests to take before I can really come back."

"Keh. You stay in this era too much, and we still have to kill Naraku, that damn spider!"

"I know, Inuyasha, just for a few minutes."

Kagome was climbing out of the well at this point, and Hana quietly digested the information she'd heard. Something about killing a spider had definitely been mentioned in the story, she knew that much.

She could only gape as Kagome was lifted out of the well in arms belonging to a boy with long white hair, amber eyes, strange clothes, and _dog ears._ He jumped up with such ease it was scary. Yeah, she knew something about an inu-hanyou had been mentioned as well, and the miko had been his mate. The two did seem rather close...

"Kagome, who is this?" Hana inquired, still full of doubt.

"This is Inuyasha. I don't make a habit of telling people, but he's an inu-hanyou."

"Keh."

"And you said you were a... miko?"

"Yeah..."

"What is that old bat doin' here, anyway?" Inuyasha asked.

"Inuyasha! Don't make me..."

"Okay, okay! I'm quiet! You can't hear me! At all!"

"So, where does this well go?"

She turned back to Hana.

"About 500 years into the past, I'd say. The only one's who can pass through are me and Inuyasha."

"And you spend too much time in this era. Everything smells funny! Now, forget this old bat and come on, we've got things to do!"

"I said I still have a few tests to take!"

"I said we've still got other things to do!"

"SIT!!"

Hana was mesmerized as Inuyasha flew to the ground, colliding in what had to have been a very painful way.

"How...?"

"Enchanted rosary."

"Yeah, and I want the damn thing off!"

"Inuyasha, you can go back now, I'll be back in a few days."

"Keh!"

He jumped back through the well and was gone.

"I believe you." Hana said with finality.

"Huh?"

"The story. I believe you."

"Oh. I almost forgot. You see why I'm so sad?" Kagome questioned, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

"Yes... But I should be going..."

"Oh! Yes, of course." Kagome wiped her face quickly and showed the older woman the way off the grounds.

"Well, I'll see you Monday, I guess. Bye."

"Goodbye."

With a sigh, she walked inside, deciding to study for the tests she was going to have to take,

-*-

-A/N- I don't really like the way this chapter turned out... But I hope you liked it! Please review!!


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